Eight months after a federal jury unanimously decided that Google’s Android app store is an illegal monopoly in Epic v. Google, Donato held his final hearing on remedies today.
While Epic won the jury trial last December, it’s been up to the judge to decide how to fix the damage that Google’s monopoly caused.
In April, Epic revealed it was asking the court to effectively crack the Google Play store wide open — by forcing Google to let rival stores live inside its own Google Play store and giving them access to every Google Play app, too.
Google argued that it shouldn’t hypothetically be forced to carry a Nazi app, as one example: “If the American Nazi Party app came to Play, Play would say no,” said Google’s lead attorney, Glenn Pomerantz.
Donato told Google: “When you have a mountain that’s built out of bad conduct, you have to move that mountain.
Google will pay, Judge James Donato has made very clear.
In the Epic v. Google case, a federal jury found, eight months later, that Google’s Android app store is an illegal monopoly. Today was Google, Donato’s last hearing regarding remedies. Although the outcome is still unknown, he consistently rejected any argument that Google shouldn’t have to allow competitors to open up shop, that it would be too difficult or expensive, or that the suggested fixes would be excessive.
Donato declared, “It’s going to happen; we’re going to tear down the barriers.”. The result of monopolistic behavior is the world as it is today. That globe is evolving. In a little more than two weeks, Donato will render his final decision.
The judge has been tasked with determining how to repair the harm that Google’s monopoly caused, even though Epic prevailed in the December jury trial. In April, Epic disclosed that it was requesting a court order to essentially sever Google Play store exclusivity, allowing rival stores to operate inside Google Play store and grant them access to all Google Play apps.
In this manner, an Android user could freely choose to lease their app from Google or another party.
Surprisingly, at the start of today’s final hearing on remedies, both parties agreed that opening up the Play Store is possible, if not very difficult. However, they disagreed about the cost, the timeline, and most importantly, whether Google would be able to make rival stores submit all of their apps for human review before allowing them to be listed on Google Play.
Google’s lead attorney, Glenn Pomerantz, contended that Play shouldn’t be made to carry a Nazi app, for example. “If the American Nazi Party app came to Play, Play would say no,” Pomerantz said.
“You have to move a mountain that has been constructed out of poor behavior. — Judge Donato.
Gary Bornstein, the lead attorney for Epic, later retorted, saying, “If Google is truly evaluating each and every app on a third-party store, it gives Google the gatekeeping authority it has already abused.”. Furthermore, Judge Donato stated unequivocally that he intends to outlaw any nondiscriminatory actions by Google toward competing app stores, including human review.
Almost suggesting in his closing argument that Judge Donato is headed toward Soviet Russia-era communism, Pomerantz argued that courts have previously declared that “central planning,” the kind that would compel Google to carry competing app stores in order to create new competition, is not permitted. Previously, Donato declared, “The goal of this is to cultivate a marketplace of rival app stores.”. “).
Donato, however, stated that he will not centrally plan the results or “micromanage” Google in this instance. Rather, he will direct Epic and Google to form a “technical compliance and monitoring committee,” comprising one representative from Epic, one from Google, and a third that they both agree upon. This committee will be tasked with arbitrating the technical details and providing updates to the court approximately every ninety-nine days.
“You have to move that mountain when it’s built out of bad conduct,” Donato said to Google. That is the anticipated outcome. “.
